Lou Vaickus

Lou Vaickus has served as interim Chief Medical Officer of Verseau since September 2021. He has over 30 years of experience including as an academic scientist and as a practicing physician before transitioning into the biotech industry where he developed preclinical, clinical, and globally marketed pharmaceutical products. Lou’s therapeutic areas of specialization include oncology, hematology, infectious diseases, autoimmunity, and immunology. Lou is also Chief Executive Officer and Founder of akta Pharmaceutical Development (aktaPD®), an international drug development consultation company. He previously served as interim Chief Medical Officer at several biotech companies, most recently for Vigeo Therapeutics, Vedanta Biosciences, Verastem Oncology, Momenta Pharmaceuticals and InVivo Therapeutics. Lou also served as Vice President and Head of Clinical Development, Global Medicines Development and Affairs at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Before joining Vertex, he was Chief Medical Officer of Tolerx. Previously, he served as Vice President of Clinical Research and later as Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs at Sunovion (formerly Sepracor), as Medical Director of Oncology/Immunology at EMD Serono (formerly Ares Serono), where he supervised clinical and medical affairs for Rebif®, and as Associate Medical Director, Medical Director, and later Medical Marketing Director for the Rebif® Multiple Sclerosis Strategic Business Unit at Serono. Lou is board certified in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology. He completed postdoctoral fellowships in hematology, oncology, and immunology at the Mayo Clinic and Stanford University. Lou has held faculty positions at the University of Iowa and at Roswell Park Cancer Institute/SUNY Buffalo. He holds an M.D. from Loyola University's Stritch School of Medicine.